Track: FSU wins regional

TALLAHASSEE -- Two-time defending national champion Florida State cruised to its fourth straight NCAA East Regional title Saturday and Virginia Tech nudged Penn State for the women's title.

Virginia Tech finished with 92 points to Penn State's 91. Florida was third with 82. Florida State outdistanced the men's competition with 88.5 points, followed by Florida's 68.

Virginia Tech's Queen Harrison broke her own regional mark set Friday in the 100-meter hurdles with a 12.7 win in the finals and then established a new mark in the 400-meter hurdles with a 54.69 clocking.

"With the time I ran, it gives me confidence for the championships," Harrison said.

Penn State's Shana Cox won the 200- and 400-meter races and anchored an East Regional record in the women's 1,600-meter relay.

South Carolina's Jason Richardson captured the 110-meter hurdles in a region record-setting 13.21 seconds and Florida's Carlos Phillips established a new regional mark in the 800 meters with a 1:46.7 win.

And just hours before being formally commissioned as an officer, Army's John Mickowski from Mukwonago, Wis., won the 1,500 meters in 3:50.94.

Dix was running his second 100 in two months after sitting out seven weeks with a strained left hamstring. His 20.1 clocking led a 1-2-4 Florida State finish in the 200 meters that produced 24 of the Seminoles' points.

Florida State's Charles Clark finished second with a career-best 20.22 followed by Padgett at 20.32. Clark also ran the anchor on Florida State's winning 400-meter relay.

Dix, who holds the collegiate record in the 200 meters at 19.69, didn't run on the Seminole relay teams in the regional.

"Now I know exactly where I need to be," Dix said. "I have a couple of things to work on in the 100."

More than 1,000 athletes from 115 colleges participated in the two-day event.